Flamingo Plant

Flamingo plant (Anthurium andraeanum) is a showy tropical houseplant with a stunning, long-lasting display of bright waxy heart-shaped flowers. They’re accompanied by curly orange’spadixes’ that protrude like a tongue – hence the plant’s other common names such as flamingo flower, tail flower and laceleaf. It’s not easy to cultivate, but it’s worth the effort for its exotic charm.

This unmistakably tropical plant hails from the rain forests of Central and South America, but can thrive surprisingly well in the average British home. It needs a warm and bright location, and regular misting to keep the leaves looking fresh. It’s also slightly toxic to touch or ingest, so it’s best kept away from children and pets.

The flamingo plant is a member of the genus Anthurium, which has around 1,000 species worldwide. It’s an epiphyte, meaning it grows on or in the bark of other plants, or in the moss that builds up around branch unions in trees. The ‘flowers’ that give the plant its name are actually spathes, and they come in several different colours, including white, salmon, pink, and red. They have a yellow spadix in the middle and are often so shiny they’re said to look plastic!

Like most epiphytes, anthuriums don’t need to be repotted often. When they do, choose a pot with a large drainage hole, and fill it with a coarse growing medium, such as one part perlite, one part peat moss and one part pine bark. A potting mix specially formulated for anthuriums is usually available at nurseries and garden centres. Fill the pot up to 1 inch above the root ball, and add more growing medium if necessary. Before planting, check the roots and remove any rotten ones. Then cover the soil with clay shards or small stones to help prevent waterlogging, and put the anthurium in its new home.

Misting is essential to keeping anthurium leaves healthy, and it’s a good idea to mist the flower too. The plant is sensitive to overwatering and wilting, so make sure the soil dries out completely between waterings. It’s also worth adding an occasional fertiliser to the mix. It’s best to avoid too much nitrogen, though, as it promotes lanky growth that doesn’t produce beautiful flowers.

A foliar spray of liquid insecticide will help to keep pests at bay, and the odd pinch of powdered sphagnum snail or slug pellet is also useful. Keep an eye out for spider mites, which can leave fine webs on the leaves and stems, or mealybugs, which are a little more difficult to spot but can cause patches of light-coloured discolouration on the leaves.

The flamingo flower is a great choice for a tropical garden, and it’s equally suitable as a feature plant in a bright and sunny indoor room. It looks especially effective when mixed with other bright, colourful houseplants such as the acrobat plant or split leaf philodendron. It can even be grown in water, although it may grow slower than when it’s in soil.